In a Million - A Dan Avidan Slow Burn Fanfiction
by VytalFest
Summary: Everyone knows you'd be lucky to even meet your biggest inspiration. It's even luckier to get to be friends with whoever that person is, and who knows how many stars have to align to end up closely-aligned. That's why we have fanfiction. But by chance of a new neighbor and an extroverted housemate, you get those chances.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Not-So-Early Bird

You would've been fine with being woken up on any other day of the week, but it was a Sunday nearing the fucking end of summer, and you just wanted to sleep in until the midday humidity forced you out from under your comfy sherpa blanket.

"What is it?" you mumbled groggily, one arm lazily hung across your forehead. "You know how I feel about this."

Your housemate threw a pillow at you, which you didn't need to roll away from to dodge because you knew without a doubt that she'd miss from her angle. This was proven by the dull _boomf_ of the pillow landing to your left, probably on your desk chair. "Get up," she demanded. "You need to make cookies."

Was that really it? She interrupted your precious sleep for a sugary breakfast? "You know how to bake," you replied, scowling.

"Actually…" Her voice trailed off.

You suddenly sat up, peering at the figure of your housemate standing in the doorway, your sleepy, near-sighted eyes struggling to focus. "What?"

"Don't freak out, okay?" Her eyes were serious, but there was an underlying smile fighting to make an appearance. Did she have coffee again? … Did she at least make an extra cup and put it in the fridge for you to drink later?

If there was anything amiss, she didn't bring it into the light. "Look," she said, "just please, will you make some cookies? You're the one who can make them crunchy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside, with just the right amount of chocolate chips."

Were you missing something? You only ever made them on the holidays. Y'know, when you actually had the time and were in the mood for them.

"Is there a new holiday that I don't know about?" She was still a blur but you knew she could see you just fine, so you pulled the most questioning face you could manage.

She let out a massive sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, there's a surprise and I don't want to spoil it, alright? Just make the cookies. I'll be in the lounge watching Game Grumps YouTube videos." Another smile hinted at the corners of her lips, but she ducked out of your room before you could ask her anything about it.

Well, there went your blissfully-empty morning. Peeling your sherpa blanket off and swinging your legs over the side of the bed, you got up to face the already trying day. A glance at your buzzing phone told you it was only nine o'clock. Ugh, whatever the surprise was, she owed you big time. You'd gone to sleep at six this morning after finally finishing up your part for an MAP (Multi-Animator Project). Standing up and stretching, you padded to the bathroom to take care of business and brush your teeth before heading into the kitchen to bake the demanded pastries.

 _I might as well make two batches,_ you thought to yourself while you measured out the flour. "Hey!" you called out. "I'm gonna' make a second batch! Do you want more chocolate chip or something else?"

After a few moments of silence, her response finally came. "Could you make some sugar cookies?"

"Sure!" you yelled back. "Less sweet or more sweet?"

"The fuck kind of question is that?"

You pursed your lips, frowning down at the sugar jars in your hands. Fair enough. So you continued, prepping two and a half cups of brown sugar, along with one cup of white sugar. When you were sure you had all the ingredients out and measured appropriately, you began mixing and finally scooped the cookie dough out onto two pans lined with parchment paper. Then you slid them into the preheated oven and pushed the door shut.

You had half an hour until they would be finished, so you figured you'd get some answers out of your housemate. After setting your baking mitts down on the back of a dining chair, you went into the lounge and leaned against the door frame, raising an eyebrow at the bundle of laughter rolling on the sofa.

"You good?"

She wiped her smile off her face as she took in the apparently horrifying sight of you in your pajamas. "Oh, shit. Could you change real quick?"

That was totally not suspicious. At all. "Why?"

"We're going out today," she easily replied.

She smiled innocently as you groaned. "Really?" you asked. "We're going out, too? It's Sunday. Sunday. Does this day no longer mean anything to you?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, looking genuinely guilty. "The surprise is super worth it, though. I'll even pack up the cookies for you. And I'll feed Privilege. Okay? Just go change."

Oh, shit. You forgot about the kitten the two of you shared responsibility for. It was a white kitten, and you'd found it appropriate to name it Privilege. Your housemate had agreed. Well, if she was volunteering… "Fine," you muttered, "but you so owe me."

"Right, I owe you. I'll treat you to boba tomorrow."

"It's your turn to pay for boba tomorrow anyway."

"Exactly." She got up from the couch and pushed you out of the lounge and into your room. "Knock on the wall if you need anything."

Sigh. "Just don't burn the house down."

"I make no promises." Her voice softened as she got farther away and disappeared into the kitchen to keep an eye on the cookies.

Wonderful. You shut your bedroom door behind you and opened your closet, revealing your colorful array of dorky graphic shirts and merchandise. These were what your usual attire consisted of. Farthest on the right were a couple of your fancier options, in case of a party or banquet.

"Yo!" You held up a black shirt with a white circle on it in front of yourself and stood in front of the mirror. "Casual or formal?"

"Uhhmm! Formal casual!"

"Jeans and a nice top?" You frowned, returning the shirt to its spot in your closet..

"Bingo!"

Hmm… You could wear a shirt with a jacket over it… Man, RedBubble hoodies were so damn comfortable. Your favorite one was simple and nice enough - NSP in large, bright, colorful letters. Surely, you could wear that. Okay, that left you with deciding what shirt to wear. It wasn't like anyone would see it with a jacket over it, but what if it got too hot? You'd either sweat like you'd just dive bombed into hell, or be forced to walk around in a bra. No, thanks. So, you briefly freshened up, tried on numerous graphic shirts before deciding on a fitted gray Game Grumps shirt and the NSP hoodie, and shimmied into your best pair of black jeans. To finish the look off, you put on blue puppy socks and a pair of sneakers and slid your black, metal-framed glasses onto your face.

 _That's pretty good. Aaand so is the smell coming from the cookies._

You returned to the kitchen and stood with your hands on your hips. "Is this good enough?"

Your housemate spun around in her chair to give you a quick look-over and beamed. "That's actually perfect. Come on. I packed the goods." She held up her hands with a big tupperware container in them as proof.

"Great." You nodded and gestured at the front door, mentally readying yourself for whatever shenanigans she had in store this time. "Lead the way."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So originally I was just going to leave the housemate character nameless for anyone who would like to plug in the name of their own roomie/homie if they have one but that got tedious. By all means, feel free to do so, but that's why she gets a name here. I hope you all enjoy! And this is a relatively slow slow burn fanfic.

Chapter Two: A Star Touch

"Okay, so where to?" you mumbled around a yawn.

Your housemate bounced along excitedly beside you, calling the image of a foraging bird to mind. "Not far, really. We have a new neighbor, and he has a pretty cool friend."

Geez, she should've just winked at an invisible camera while she was at it. Pointedly, you told her, "We could've done this later in the day. What if he's still asleep?"

"I don't think he sleeps until noon like we do."

"Hm." That's right. Normal people are out and about by nine in the a.m. "You're doing all the talking."

"Fine by me," she said. "Might not be for you, though."

"What do you mean?" By then the two of you were coming up on a two-story house with glass sliding doors and a small pool in the back, as well as a white garage door and a neat little front yard bordered on all sides by gravel. Recognizing the house, you realized it was about time that someone moved in.

"You'll see," she murmured cryptically. Before you could voice your concerns, she pointed out the pool and scurried up to the front door.

As you followed up behind her, you noticed a car waiting out on the curb. Did he already have a visitor over? Were the two of you going to walk in on anything? As you braced yourself for social interaction, your housemate pressed the doorbell, prompting a short, cheerful ring.

Suddenly you felt like you should've run a brush through your hair before coming. Well, too late now. Hopefully a lazy, low ponytail was enough for a decent first impression.

The door opened to reveal a cute guy with green eyes, fair skin, and short, black hair. He had the same grin as your housemate's on his face. What the hell was going on?

"Hey, Chester!" she greeted, suddenly beaming. "How's it goin', ma' dude? Brought the cookies!"

Wait a second. "You've already introduced yourself?" Your eyebrows hiked up high in disbelief.

"Yeah, but I had to get you out here, too. You need to hang out with other people more." With that said, she pushed you in through the front door while Chester stepped back to welcome you in.

She was right; you could hang out with other people more. But did it have to be someone new? Although, you had to admit, Chester's interior decorating was aesthetically pleasing. There were beautiful acrylic art pieces hung up on the light blue walls, and he had a billiards table in a little side room near the staircase. He even had maybe a dozen Pop! figures tidily stacked in a bookshelf.

"It's nice to meet you," you said, remembering your manners.

Chester smiled, leading the two of you into what appeared to be his living room. There was a short coffee table in the middle, on top of a rectangular rug. He gestured toward the sofa and loveseat while he accepted the cookies from your housemate and set them on his kitchen counter. There weren't really any seperate rooms; everything was rather open, actually. It was nice. Not stuffy.

"Nice to have you two over."

"Do you have a guest?" You couldn't help asking, anxiously scanning your surroundings. "I noticed the car on the curb and I'm sorry if we're intruding."

Chester waved dismissively. "It's fine. My friend completely understands. In fact, I think he'd like to meet you, too."

Your heart hitched in your chest. Oh, no. Was this another one of your housemate's attempts at trying to get you a boyfriend? Platonic friendships were really enough. You forced yourself to remain calm and offered him your most convincing smile. "Oh?"

"Yeah." His knee bobbed as his leg bounced up and down. "Lina told me you're both fans of him, and that _you're_ actually a _huge_ fan of his." He paused, struggling with his growing smile as his eyes rested briefly on your hoodie. "I find that believable."

Okay, what the fuck was going on? Fans of who? For one, there were a lot of people you and Lina adored. Also, come again? Whoever that person was, was here?

"Uhh…" Your eyes wandered once more, searching. "Is he here?"

Chester let out a puff of a sigh. "Yeah. We meant to have this enormous reveal, but he had to go to the bathroom so I have no clue when he's coming out."

"Okay?"

Lina suddenly popped up onto her toes, reminding you she was still here, too. You decided you'd make her pay for the most complicated, expensive drink as possible tomorrow. "Ooh! We should go get the cookies and put them on a plate to have with some cookies. I told you, right? (Y/n) makes the best cookies."

Chester hopped up, too. "Yeah! Can't wait to try one. I'll show you where I keep my dishes and help you set everything up." Then he turned to you and gave you his best host smile. "Sorry. We'll be right back."

You waved him off. "No worries; I'll be right here." Honestly, you had no problem with some alone time.

 _Clunk! KRSHHHHHHHH!_

Oh, what lovely timing. A toilet flush. It was time to meet mystery friend. You heard a distant door opening above you, followed by a pair of feet descending the stairs. The sounds were muffled, so whoever he was was probably wearing socks.

"Whew! That was a pretty good shit, man."

Hold on a second. . .

"Oh, shit."

Yeah, that voice. . .

A tall figure froze at the bottom of the staircase, brown eyes wide. There wasn't anything about him that stood out in particular - blue jeans, black socks, and a T-shirt. Completely mundane, all things considered. But you had your glasses on and the events of this morning had woken you up enough to know you weren't dreaming. Yeah, no - there was no mistaking that mop of frizzy hair.

"Danny?"

You totally should've brushed your hair.

The one and only, Daniel Avidan, stumbled forward, rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands. "Heh, sorry," he said. "We were supposed to surprise you. Heard you're a big fan, and Chester and Lina hit it off really quickly, so I figured I could show up to hang out."

Umm… What? Did you want to hug him first or scream? Could you do both? Hm, maybe not. He was right there in front of you, though you couldn't make this awkward. Out of nowhere, or maybe out of your ass, you pulled out the snarkiness you usually reserved for Lina and a few other close friends.

"Good thing, 'cause I was about to dip. Interacting with other human beings isn't usually my thing."

He tilted his head, reminding you of a puppy while also making it difficult for you to focus. "So why'd you show up?."

"Lina already woke me up so why not. Besides, we're getting fresh cookies out of it."

"Cookies, you say?" Dan's face lit up. "Yum."

"Yeah. Lina and Chester should be done prepping them by now."

"Cool! Chester!"

"Comin'!"

Seconds later, as if by summoning, the pair re-emerged from the kitchen, laughing about a meme Lina had made. She had the cookies neatly arranged on a large, white plate with golden engravings, and Chester carried in four glasses of milk.

Lina made herself comfortable on the couch with Chester, both of them keeping a napkin pouch of cookies on their laps, leaving their milk on the table. Meanwhile, Dan passed you a glass on a coaster, followed by a clean napkin.

"Thanks," you murmured, feeling suddenly shy as you came to the realization that you'd need to share the loveseat with Dan. YouTube icon or not, you were _not_ by any means physically comfortable with him yet. But at the same time, you didn't want to be rude or seem standoff-ish.

Dan helped himself to two cookies and plopped himself down on the farther side of the loveseat, his long legs bent beneath him. Good God, this man was _all_ legs.

You wrapped four cookies up in your napkin and sat down next to him, shoulders tense and eyes wary, crossing your legs.

He nodded subtly toward the two on the couch, their heads close, deep into a debate about whether or not Toy Story 4 would be garbage. "They probably should've been sitting here and us there."

"Yeah," you agreed, smiling nervously.

"At least it's nice and cozy."

Right. Nice and cozy. Different feelings were competing in your head at the moment. On one hand, you were next to fucking Danny Sexbang. On the other, you hadn't crept out of your shell with these particular people yet. Thank God for your survival instincts.

"So what brings you here?" Lina cut in, much to your relief. She'd clearly done so to take a fresh breath after struggling with convincing Chester that a fourth installment to an already well-ended franchise was unnecessary.

However, Dan was in the middle of taking a bite from one of his cookies and, looking up, he quickly chewed and swallowed, coughing. "Well," he said, a little strained, "Chester said he was moving into Sin City and I was like, 'Sweet! Gives me an excuse to take a quick little trip here!'"

"Did anyone else come?" Surprisingly, this question came from you.

"Oh, no. Game Grumps and everything else has to keep going. In fact, only the other grumps know I'm out here. This is just a pit stop, I guess."

"So you probably recorded a bunch with Arin so you'd have something to post while you're gone, right?" Oops, would that sound creepy? No, right? That was just common knowledge, you hoped.

"Yeah, exactly. So things should be fine. But I do have to get back on Friday."

Oh, cool. He'd be in Vegas for a little less than a week. Knowing that, the tiny spark of a hope flickered to life: the hope that you could actually become a good friend of one of your favorite people on the planet. This hope burned low, though, because you knew how little of a chance this already was - to meet one of your idols in a private environment - and you didn't want to bite off more than you could chew with this.

"So," Lina started, reaching for her milk, "what will you be up to while you're in the area?"

You felt the material of the seat shifting as Dan tried to get more comfortable. "Gonna' go through the strip maybe once and then maybe get some R&R in some small restaurant. Not sure about the end of my trip yet, honestly."

Your curiosity pushed you to speak again. "What if we all went out for sushi on Thursday?"

"Oh, sure! What time would we go?"

You blanked. Probably dinnertime. "Dinnertime? So maybe around five or six?"

"I can't," said Chester, dipping a third of a sugar cookie into his milk. "I have night shift on Thursday, but you guys have fun."

"Someone's gotta' keep the studio going. I've gotta' hold down the fort." Lina's Cheshire grin was making a full appearance now. Jesus Christ, this girl. Panicked, you turned your eyes back to Dan. Would he still want to go? He turned his gaze on the pair on the couch. Lina wiped the grin off her face and hit him with what would be a convincing apologetic frown if you didn't already know what she was up to.

"That sucks," he huffed, sinking back into the seat. "I guess it'll just be me and you, (Y/n)." Ah, shit. He made eye contact with you, his eyes sincere. "Will you be okay with that?"

 _Lina was definitely banking on me being too timid to refuse, especially if I was the one who offered a suggestion in the first place,_ you thought bitterly.

"Yeah." You nodded, forcing on a friendly smile. "As long as it's okay with you."

Maybe he'd bail now.

"Of course," he insisted. "I'd rather go out with a cute girl than alone like a loser."

Your eyes must've bugged out because after a glance at your face he added, "I mean, come on. I'm Danny fucking Sexbang. I _gotta'_ go out with someone."

 _Did… Did Dan just say I was cute?_

Your heart thumped in cut time and it took internal counting to keep your breathing steady. A compliment from a stranger or even a friend was no big deal - it was flattering, of course. You could keep the memory in your head for a few hours, maybe a day, and you'd smile and feel good about yourself. But again, this was someone you'd been looking up to for fucking _years_. Would it be out of place to ask him to repeat himself so you could record it for your ringtone?

"Riiight…" Somehow you were blessed with the ability to look completely calm when inside you were sure you'd spring out of the house screaming. "I look forward to it, Danny. It's all-you-can-eat, by the way, for like twenty-five dollars."

From the corner of your peripheral, you could see Lina's shocked visage, which she was attempting to hide by taking a huge swig of milk, but you could see how high her brows were. She obviously hadn't thought you'd be this cool about being thrown under the bus like this. _Well take that, bitch. To be fair though, I'm shocked, too._ You hated to admit it, but if it hadn't been for her, this week would've been just another blur or work and boba trips for you. It could still bomb. Depending on the night's outcome, you'd thank her someday, but for now she could suffer with worrying about whether or not the sushi hangout would go well.

"Great! Sounds like a plan."

 _Oh, you have no idea._ This would be the perfect opportunity to glare at the camera if you were in a movie or TV show. Unfortunately, this was real. You were going to chase one of your idols away with your actual personality by the end of the week. How swell.

"Well," squeaked Lina from behind her now empty glass, "(Y/n) and I should be getting back home. She's got animations to finish, and I've gotta' strike up a deal with Satan so I can magically obtain enough money to buy (Y/n) boba tomorrow as repayment for this huge shocker today. It isn't even noon yet, which is morning for her." She turned to Chester. "Thanks so much for having us over, my guy. It was nice to crash for a bit and see the crib."

"No problem." Chester flashed you an appreciative smile. "Thanks for the cookies, (Y/n)."

"Glad you liked them," you replied. "Just let me know if you want any more. I can always send Lina out if we need to stock up on any ingredients."

Lina shot you a look of protest but both of you knew she deserved that.

"Wait, animations?" Dan leaned forward, shifting the seat once more, his eyes piercing you with his clear interest. "Are you one of those people who does projects with a bunch of other people?"

You could feel your facial features conveying your discomfort at suddenly being asked about what was pretty much your job. It was an innocent enough question, though. You were so used to people shrugging you off and telling you what you were doing wasn't going to work or really make you happy in life - and they were all wrong. Every one of them was wrong because at the end of every long day, you were truly content with where you were and how you'd gotten there. You'd made amazing connections with truly inspiring individuals, and you were inspiring others as well. There was magic in that. Then you backpedalled a bit, remembering where you were just then. This was Danny Sexbang. This was Not-so-Grump. He wouldn't judge you for being an animator on YouTube. _He_ was one of those dreamers who had originally inspired you.

"Yeah," you said. "It's a lot of work but the end product is always so cool."

"You're telling me. Like, even the I guess 'more simple' ones are soo good, and it's great that those videos give the animators a chance to be seen for their work."

"Mhm." You nodded automatically, feeling at ease with being able to talk about this with someone other than Lina. She was your closest friend and a truly wonderful one, and you were infinitely grateful for her existence, but sometimes the world was too much and it was nice to finally have someone else you could talk about this with in person. "It can be a huge hassle to get all the parts and put them together, but you get to work with other people, see their art styles, how they interpret characters you want to portray = it's all a huge geekout for me."

"I see. How long does the whole process take?"

You laughed a quick, through-your-nose laugh as the memory of countless online shenanigans darted through your mind. "It can take weeks to years - the weeks are if you're lucky and everything goes smoothly, but things happen, data gets corrupted, life takes the reins.

He nodded in understanding. "I mean, that makes sense." He propped his arm on the back of the seat so he could face you. "It's like a cool collaboration without having to meet anyone."

Hadn't you been about to leave with Lina? Normally it was you who had to wait for others to finish up conversations before leaving. Although, you couldn't deny you liked having his attention. "Exactly. I've gotta' admit, though, it still sounds like it'd be fun to collaborate with someone in real life. Which makes living with Lina great because she's always right there if one of us gets a video idea we need another person for."

Lina pumped a fist in the air. "Hell yeah! Making my existence worth."

You rolled your eyes, used to her self-deprecating jokes. "You give your existence worth by breathing. Anyway, it's really efficient to be able to focus on your own for individual work, but combining efforts with another person is a nice breath of fresh air. I'm sure you knew that already, though."

"Well, yeah, but it's good to hear that others feel the same way, even though your content differs so much from ours."

"Well, interaction is what it is." You shrugged. "I'm like the last person to voluntarily go out of my way for it, but some days even I don't mind it. The only way I got to this point was by stepping out, after all."

"Mmm, and it's good that you two have each other. Plus, you seem to treat each other as equals." He nodded at Lina. "Even if one of you is more rambunctious than the other."

Lina shot him one of her trademark winks. It was unintentionally almost second nature for her to be flirty, even when she had no romantic interest in whoever she was being flirty with. "Rambunctious is fun," she said. Then, she grabbed you by the arm and gave you a quick tug. "Aaanywho, we really should get going. (Y/n) just finished up her part in an MAP last night and who knows if everything went through."

"Ugh, yeah," you agreed reluctantly, standing. Chester, following suit, began quietly making his way to the front door. "Besides, we've gotta' record lines for your voice acting audition."

"Um, actually…" You looked back to Dan just as he got up, his floppy mess of brown hair drifting with the momentum. "We could walk you back to your place - it's nearby, right?"

How chivalrous. He was a sweet goofball - you knew that much simply by being one of his many, many adoring fans, but you felt like you'd already taken up enough of his time. A nice walk back to the house with just Lina would be perfect for you to scream bloody murder at her, thank her, and contemplate the multitude of ways you'd eventually make a fool out of yourself. It'd be an eventful little walk. Lina would definitely be entertained. Perhaps you'd even come up with a new video idea. Your eyes widened a fraction. Oh, boy, what a video this could be. But no; you couldn't - wouldn't - do that. Whatever happened this week - good or bad - would stay between those of you involved.

"It's okay," you told him, casting him a small, friendly smile. "We can manage on our own."

Lina nodded. "We are strong, independent young women. We don't need no man."

You couldn't help but snicker at how lame that was and so did Chester. Dan grinned a bit but you could tell he wasn't all that up for it. You had a general idea of what he was about after listening to countless hours of Game Grump content, so what was wrong? Well, maybe it was an overused phrase and it wasn't exactly the funniest placement, but it was rare for others to not laugh when Lina was the source of a joke.

"It was really great meeting you," you said, smiling first at Dan and then at Chester as you followed Lina out the door. "See you both again soon."

"Hey, wait! Uh, (Y/n) could I bother you just a second more for your number?"

"Oh!" You hadn't even thought of that. It'd be hard to follow up on plans without having each other's contact information. "Right. Of course"

With that done, your gaze lingered for a moment longer on the frizzy-haired rockstar before you turned your back, taking in all you could in case this actually _wasn't_ real and you'd wake up at any moment at your desk with video game soundtracks blaring through your headphones. Once you were satisfied with how well you could paint an image of him in your head from memory, you joined Lina on the sidewalk, and the two of you headed home.


End file.
